In a previous post, the Right Wire Report reported on “Crime in America Keeps Going Up.” In this post, we wanted to drill down a bit more and highlight what is going on in a few “Blue (Democrat-controlled),” “Woke,” and “Big” cities across America. These reports may be anecdotal, but the trends are clear – crime is now on the rise after decades of declines since the 1980s.
Crime-ridden Seattle has lost its downtown Nike flagship store and multiplex movie theater as crime runs rampant and the number of homeless people dying soars (see this post’s featured photo). The Rain City’s downtown area suffered its latest blow on Friday when the popular Nike store, located at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Pike Street, shut its doors for good.
Nike’s exit came right after Regal Cinemas announced it would reject the lease of the Meridian 16 multiplex located on Seventh Avenue and Pike Street. While Nike has yet to comment on why it’s shutting down the store after more than 26 years of service, local residents told the Seattle Times that street crime was likely among the biggest motivators for the departure.
In 2022 we saw 310 deaths in the homeless community, a 65 percent spike from 2021, including at least 18 homicides and 160 fentanyl-related overdoses, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. See this in the chart below and learn more here.
Homelessness and incarceration appear to increase the risk of each other, and these factors seem to be mediated by mental illness and substance abuse, as well as by disadvantageous socio-demographic characteristics. See the uncomfortable reality of what homeless brings in terms of crime in the chart below and learn more here.
Carjackings have risen dramatically over the past two years in some of America’s biggest cities. “The majority of it is young joyriders. They’re not keeping the cars. They’re jacking cars to commit another crime, typically more serious robberies or shootings, or joyriding around for the sake of social media purpose and street cred,” said Christopher Herrmann, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “It’s a disturbing trend.” Below are just a few examples of America’s biggest blue, woke, big cities.
- The number of carjackings quadrupled in New York City over the last four years, according to data released by the NYPD. The city recorded more than 500 carjackings in 2021, up from 328 in 2020, 132 in 2019, and 112 in 2018.
- Carjackings in Philadelphia nearly quadrupled between 2015 and 2021, according to figures released by the city’s police department. They recorded more than 800 last year, up from about 170 in 2015.
- In New Orleans, there were 281 carjackings last year, up from 105 in 2018, the earliest year of available data. The city has also seen a string of carjackings this year, with NOPD reporting 39 as of January 21.
- More than 1,800 carjackings were reported in Chicago last year, the most of any large city, according to data released by police departments to CNN. Chicago’s 2021 tally was the most on record over the last 20 years. Carjackings had been steadily declining in the city after 2001, hitting a low of 303 in 2014, but began to tick upward before skyrocketing to 1,400 in 2020 following the onset of the pandemic. Last year saw more than five times as many carjackings as in 2014.
Below is a chart of what has happened in the nation’s capital, Washington DC.
The above chart above was featured in a recent Greg Gutfeld monologue – demonstrating a sad satirical commentary on what is happening in America.
It may be uncomfortable to say, but even a few Democrats are starting to admit things are not going well. New York City Mayor Eric Adams blamed woke progressive policies for the city’s soaring crime rates in an interview on ABC This Week – see here. However, there seems to be no political will as of this point to make serious changes.
By Tom Williams
